


Not Just a Piece of Cake

by EtherealPeacock



Category: Batman (Comics), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types
Genre: Bruce Wayne is a Gym Leader, Flying-types are not weak, Gen, One Shot, Original Pokemon Trainer gets pwned, POV Outsider, The Robins are his team
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-21
Updated: 2019-01-21
Packaged: 2019-10-14 01:50:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17499305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtherealPeacock/pseuds/EtherealPeacock
Summary: Jake’s new to the region, sure, but flying-types are just as puny in the DC region as in any other. Defeating the Gotham City Gym will be a piece of cake.





	Not Just a Piece of Cake

Jake stepped onto the dock from the cruise ship, sighing in satisfaction as a cool ocean breeze ruffled his hair. Jolteon jiggled its poke ball as if sensing that they had finally arrived at their destination: the DC region.

“Raring to go, huh buddy?” Jake asked with a smile. His other pokemon remained still. Probably not awake yet. Jake indulged his long-time partner, pressing the release, and Jolteon shot out with sparks of electricity trailing in its wake.

“Jol!” Jolteon cried, darting around Jake and sniffing everything within a reasonable distance as they walked. Looking around, Jake was quick to spot a gift shop. He popped in real quick to grab a brochure and flipped through it outside.

“The DC region,” he read aloud. “Like many other regions, DC hosts an annual Pokemon League. Trainers must obtain badges from each of the eight gym leaders in order to participate. Unlike the other regions, however, is the organization known as the Justice League — a union consisting of the gym leaders that replaces the need for an Elite Four. As such, trainers should be aware that it is not uncommon for leaders to be away from their gyms. Information on the gyms is on the following few pages. Aside from the Pokemon League, the DC region blah blah blah…” He trailed off and flipped the page eagerly before resuming. At this point, Jolteon was listening intently.

“The gyms are as follows in the order it is recommended for new trainers to challenge:

**Amnesty Bay Gym**

Badge: Atlantis Badge

Leader: Arthur Curry

Type: Water

**Central City Gym**

Badge: Flash Badge

Leader: Barry Allen

Type: Electric

**Metropolis Gym**

Badge: Super Badge

Leader: Clark Kent

Type: Normal

**Coast City Gym**

Badge: Will Badge

Leader: Harold Jordan

Type: Mixed

**Ma’aleca’andra Gym**

Badge: Mars Badge

Leader: J’onn J’onzz

Type: Psychic

**Detroit Gym**

Badge: Fusion Badge

Leader: Victor Stone

Type: Steel

**Paradise Island Gym**

Badge: Amazon Badge

Leader: Diana Prince

Type: Fighting

**Gotham City Gym**

Badge: Detective Badge

Leader: Bruce Wayne

_Note that this is the recommended order and does not claim the skills of one leader to be above another; merely, this is based on how willing each leader is to lower their difficulty for beg—-_ wait, what?” Jake broke off and squinted at the paper. “What’s the type for Gotham City Gym?”

Jolteon looked at its trainer as if to say,  _‘How would I know?’_

“Oh well,” Jake muttered. “I’m in Amnesty Bay now, so I might as well hit this gym first. That gym leader’ll know.”

When he creamed Arthur Curry’s water-types and asked about the Gotham City Gym, Jake was not expecting “There’s a reason it’s called the Detective Badge, kid,” to be his answer.

Jake knew he should be claiming a bed at the Pokemon Center, but now he was _really_ curious. According to the map, Gotham City was actually closer to him than Central City and Metropolis. He wanted to know if he was really outclassed or if he shouldn’t bother backtracking. So, he spent the last of his daylight flagging down younger native trainers who would be more willing to blab.

Eventually he found success in the form of a snot-nosed kid and his oddish.

“The Gotham City Gym is the hardest of all of them,” the kid had informed him. “Bruce Wayne took Oddish down with one hit.”

“Really?”

“Yeah! His flying-types—!”

“Ha! I’ve heard enough,” Jake interrupted, cheering internally at his good luck. “You’re just a sore loser. Flying-types have the most weaknesses. This’ll be a piece of cake.”

Gotham City, here he comes.

* * *

 

“I’m here to challenge the gym,” Jake told the balding British man wearing a suit and fabulous mustache that made him look more like a butler than a receptionist. Jake had already introduced himself.

“Might I inquire as to how many badges you have so far, sir?”

“One from this region, the Atlantis Badge,” Jake said. “What does it matter?”

“I fear that without acquiring every other badge in this region that you are vastly underprepared. Are you still certain you wish to challenge Leader Bruce?”

“ _Yes_ ,” Jake said hotly. He was sort of glad Jolteon was in its ball—else, his pokemon would have been sparking in unison with Jake’s poor mood.

“If you insist. You may proceed.”

Jake wandered down the corridor as the receptionist used a buzzer to inform ‘Master Bruce’ that ‘A single-badged challenger is on his way’. He’d heard that part of the gym was modeled after the nearby Wayne Manor and it seemed that much was true—it felt very old-fashioned. The polished wooden doors were, however, merely decoration and opened to nothing but more wall. At the end of the hallway was a centered grandfather clock. It was a weird set-up and far more enclosed than he thought a flying-type gym would be. But then again, he obviously wasn’t in the arena yet. Jake eyed the clock and poked around it a little bit before he noticed two very strange things: 1) the clock face was inset enough for grooves where glass was supposed to rest, but there was no glass and 2) the hands weren’t moving.

“Detective Badge,” Jake huffed with a small smile. He could appreciate the notion. Plenty of gyms had simple puzzles or obstacles to overcome. Jake recalled the marks behind the doors of the hallway that he had thought were merely scratches. Those could be clues…but detectives didn’t just investigate, they researched. And Jake had done that beforehand. If the clock was the key…then the answer was time, and if Bruce Wayne was the sentimental type then Jake had probably just found himself a shortcut. He tried the date of the Wayne’s murder first, then the exact time. The pendulums started to swing and the hands ticked as the clock jerked, then slowly rotated forward to reveal an elevator. “Score!”

Stepping in, he had second thoughts. The elevator starting moving _down_ , not up for an epic roof battle. He was such an idiot, he realized. He only went on the word of _one_  kid. For all he knew, the kid couldn’t tell rock-, ground-, or dark-types from flying-types, or the kid was a malevolent little brat who had lied to get Jake to underestimate the gym.After all, what flying-type gym had an underground—

Giant cave.

It was HUGE. The walls were composed completely of natural rock, and the floor was a trench dotted with thickly clustered pillars. Stalactites hung from the ceiling and half of those were actually columns. What must have been a couple hundred zubat and golbat rushed from the ceiling upon his arrival and the flickering-on of the lights. Their dark cloud disappeared as quickly as it appeared—they’d all scattered into a tunnel from which natural light was filtering, although the cave itself was lit by fluorescent strips lining the pillars and columns. Okay, _maybe_ it was a flying-type gym.

At the other side of the cave— because it was more the height of the cave than the length that mage it huge— was Bruce Wayne, lazily tossing a pokeball up and down with a raised eyebrow aimed at Jake. There was a small beep, and the receptionist stepped out of another elevator dressed in a referee uniform onto a platform just off the arena and centered between Jake was and Bruce.

“This will be a four-versus-four match,” the receptionist-referee announced. “Both trainers are allowed to switch between their four chosen pokemon as they wish. A pokemon is defeated once it is no longer able to battle. If one trainer forfeits or all four of their chosen pokemon are no longer able to battle, the other trainer is the victor. Only held items are permitted. Ready?”

Bruce nodded, but Jake fumbled for Jolteon’s ball before agreeing. “Begin!”

Jolteon leaped out with a cry, as usual forming before the red light could even touch the ground. It landed on a pillar without difficulty. Similarly, Bruce’ pokemon exited its poke ball in motion. Whatever it was, it had immediately ducked behind a stalactite with ease of habit and was no more than a blur behind the rocks. From the erratic way it flew, Jake guessed it was a bat pokemon. 

“Jolteon!” Jake shouted, although the echo made it unnecessary. “Use Quick Attack to get close and then Thunder Wave to slow it down!”

Bruce remained silent as Jolteon darted into the air next to a pillar that the shadow was passing and sparked with yellow electricity. With a cry, it released its energy. At the same time, Bruce spoke swiftly: “Dick, use Acrobatics to backtrack around that pillar and attack!”

Jake burst out laughing, because seriously, who nicknames their pokemon _‘Dick’_?

He wasn’t laughing when Bruce’s tactic worked. It more than worked— Dick slammed into Jolteon from behind so fast it left an afterimage in its wake and Jolteon’s Thunder Wave bounced harmlessly against some stone. Jolteon hurtled to the ground and stayed down. After a second, the referee proclaimed, “Jolteon is unable to battle!”

Dick drifted into view, revealing itself to be a swellow. Jake recalled his Jolteon quickly and eyed the bird warily, trying to recall if swellows could even learn Acrobatics. But he wasn’t an expert, and the few hours of reading up on flying-types was not nearly enough time to memorize which flying-types could learn which moves.

As Jake pulled out his second pokemon with a trembling hand, Bruce Wayne recalled Dick. _Don’t worry,_ Jake told himself. _He was just showing off his strongest to intimidate me, to get_ my _strongest out of the way. See? Look— even his strongest wasn’t that strong. Its endurance must be horrible if Bruce is recalling him already._

“Go! Boldore!” Jake called, tossing out said pokemon, a hulking rock-type. Bruce tossed his own pokeball and it opened to reveal a staraptor. Jake could practically feel Boldore sweat from the atmosphere the pokemon was exuding—it must have had the ability Intimidate. “Power Gem!”

The downside of Boldore was that it was so _slow_. First it had to charge up, then it had to aim, etc., etc., while Bruce was already commanding: “Jason! Dodge and use Close Combat!”

With a loud screech, Jason the staraptor dove at Boldore. When the Power Gem attack finally discharged, Jake groaned in frustration as it missed and Jason bombarded Boldore with a ferocious attack. But there was one redeeming factor:

“Smack Down!” Jake ordered. Close Combat was a ridiculously powerful move, but Boldore’s ability was Sturdy— it could take that move even if it otherwise would have been knocked out. And Jason’s proximity made for the perfect opportunity to attack before the staraptor could get away. Boldore carried out the move just in time to whammy Jason with a levitating rock, knocking it to the ground effortlessly.

“Quick Attack,” Bruce ordered almost lazily. Was he mad? Normal-type attacks did hardly anything to rock-types, and Quick Attack was a weak move at that. Add that to the fact that Boldore had probably not been hurt much by Close Combat despite the move-type-advantage and Bruce was just asking for another Smack Down.

Jason struck Boldore head-on, _from the ground_ , and the rock-type fainted.

Friggin’ _fainted_.

“Boldore is unable to battle!”

One recall later, Jake was in need of some soap to clean out his mouth with. Thats how much he was cursing—on the inside, of course. He wasn’t _that_ rude.

Bruce recalled his own pokemon and Jake was happy to take that as a sign that the staraptor couldn’t stand on its own two feet.

“Froslass!” This pokemon Jake had just caught on his way to Gotham City. It was pretty strong, so he was sure he’d be able to take out a good number of Bruce’s pokemon with it. He only didn’t call it his strongest pokemon because he hadn’t spent much time with it— his most powerful, certainly, but not his strongest the way Jolteon was.

Bruce sent out his— a pidgeot. Like the staraptor, it stayed above the field and did not enter the pillars. It was probably clumsy in its maneuvers and wasn’t trusted to navigate the maze of stalactites in the cavern.

“Swagger!” Jake commanded right off the bat. Froslass’ gained a red aura as the move activated. This wasn’t a move Froslass could learn naturally, but Jake had had the TM for it sitting in his backpack for a while. When he learned that a lot of bird flying-types were dually normal-type he realized Froslass’s Confuse Ray wouldn’t work if he came up against one. Sure, Swagger would raise the opponent’s power, but Jake doubted the Pidgeot would last long enough to get a hit in, especially not while it was confused.

“Air Slash, Tim!” Bruce said. The pidgeot whipped a line of air towards Froslass just as its eyes sparked red, signaling the success of Froslass’s attack. Froslass was flung straight from one platform onto another, but to Jake’s satisfaction Tim immediately dipped in the air, so disoriented that it was barely able to flap its wings to stay aloft.

“Ha!” Jake exclaimed. “Froslass, use Icy Wind!”

Froslass righted itself and sent the attack rushing towards Tim. The move was perfectly aimed—but it wasn’t, because how could Froslass predict where Tim would be next if even Tim didn’t know?

It missed, and Jake wasn’t deterred until three Icy Winds and one Blizzard later, not a single attack had hit the confused pidgeot. Bruce watched the entire situation with an amused tilt to his lips, not that Jake could see it from so far away.

Suddenly, Tim snapped out of its confusion. “Hurricane.” Bruce spoke.

“Icy Wind!” Jack yelled hoarsely. He felt like a broken record.

Pidgeot must have been slow from lingering effects of the confusion, because Icy Wind only connected just as its wings began to glow—and gosh that felt good—but then, a flap of its wings, and a torrent of wind rushed out. Froslass was again knocked backwards, this time slamming against the wall so close to Jake that he could feel the cold air it exuded. With a pitiful cry, it crumpled to the ground.

“Froslass is no longer able to battle!”

Pidgeot didn’t have a scratch on it, floating above the arena seemingly without a care in the world. _Clearly an act_ , Jake told himself as he recalled Froslass and pulled out Gabite’s poke ball, teeth clenched in frustration. _It’s just as battered as the other two. Froslass definitely wasn’t my most powerful—my most powerful is Gabite! So what if none of its moves are super-effective—they’re effective enough for these wimps!_

“Gabite!” Jake yelled as Gabite materialized. “Use Dragon Claw the second you get a chance!”

Bruce pulled Tim back and released his final healthy pokemon: a spearow. It wasn’t even a fearow.

_Oh yeah,_ Jake thought with a grin. _I’ve got this in the bag!_

Gabite rushed forward with glowing blue claws—

—“Damian, use Mirror Move”—

—and struck the clear forcefield, stumbling back in surprise as the move was turned back on it—

—stumbling back, and falling over—

—falling unconscious. The spearow crowed in victory, its eyes gleaming in haughty disdain.

Jake gaped. A spearow, an un-evolved _spearow,_ had just one-hit KO-ed his awesome Gabite. “Gabite is unable to battle!”

Jake lost the Gotham City Gym battle.

He wonders where he went wrong.

After all…flying-types are just as puny in the DC region as in any other. Defeating the Gotham City Gym should have been a piece of cake, right?

**Author's Note:**

> Poor, deluded, Jake...they tried to warn him.  
> Someday Bruce is gonna get bored of letting beginners underestimate his boys and will put a seven-badge requirement on his gym. Today is not that day. Inspired by Team Robin Battle Cave by Clazziquai on DeviantArt: https://www.deviantart.com/clazziquai/art/Team-Robin-Battle-Cave-160206024.  
> 8/19/19 Edit: Thanks Ewelshy & Kouru-Kage for the feedback! Also, thanks for reminding me of type immunities. The only thing meant to be region-specific was Dick’s ability to do Acrobatics. I always forget about ghost-normal type immunities (even when playing the games). So…fixed that. Did a grammar check. Noticed that Damian’s Mirror Move is the manga version of the attack, but eh.


End file.
